The marketplace for intellectual property (IP) assets tends to underperform due to several issues. For example, the marketplace is fragmented and the marketplace generally lacks defined channels for buyers, sellers and service providers to find each other and transact. The marketplace also lacks standardization in that many potential deals either never materialize or are not completed because of a lack of standards, centralized knowledge and best practices. Moreover, many IP transactors (buyers and sellers) lack the tools to accomplish the steps that comprise a successful IP transaction. Attempts to address these fragmentation and standardization issues include trying to consolidate IP transactors within specific industries and creating seller specific solutions. However, these attempts fall short of providing a universal, end-to-end solution.
As such, a long felt need exists for a universal, end-to-end, automated, standards driven IP marketplace solution that is open to all or a subset of IP transactors, regardless of industry, and that provides standardized tools to help IP sellers identify, value and market their IP.